Track and field: Hannah Waite sweeps hurdles in North Marion's opener

Hannah Waite swept the girls hurdles races to lead the North Marion track and field team March 20 in its season-opening meet at Wortman Stadium in McMinnville.

The senior captured two of the Huskies four event victories at the eight-team Grizzly Bear Open, which featured participants from four of Oregons six athletic classifications.

Waite won the 100-meter high hurdles race with a time of 17.02 seconds, beating McMinnville sophomore Raena Gonzales.

She also took first place in the 300 hurdles in 51.10 seconds, finishing comfortably ahead of Newport senior Cara Knott (53.18).

Waite is on a quest for her third-straight appearance at the Class 4A championships, where she placed sixth in the 300 hurdles last year.

Fellow seniors Veronica Norris and Hannah Surcamp earned North Marions other two top finishes.

Norris turned in a career performance to win the girls high jump, clearing a 5-foot, 2-inch bar in her first official competition since taking third place at the Tri-Valley Conference district championships with a 4-10.

Surcamp was first in the girls 3,000-meter run with a time of 13 minutes 0.93 seconds. She crossed the finish line more than 14 seconds before the runner-up, McMinnville sophomore Jessica Noyes (13:15.02).

On the boys side, the Huskies came away with three second-place results.

Christian Parr was the No. 2 finisher in the 800 with a time of 2:05.22. He also joined fellow senior Austin Dobaj and sophomores Aaron Caballero and Dennis Zapata for second place in the 400 relay (47.60 seconds).

North Marion junior Elbert Giron clocked 9:56.25 to take runner-up honors in the 3,000.

The Huskies are scheduled to continue their season April 2 in Salem against host Sprague and Turner-Cascade.